that the Lord is the strength of our life. Who shall we fear? Amen. Amen. Please turn your Bibles again to Psalm 46. Psalm 46, and again, we'll read just verse 1. Psalm 46 verse 1. Once again, this is God's Holy Word. God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Amen, may the Lord add a blessing to the reading and hearing of His Holy Word. Please join me in a word of prayer. Dear Gracious Father, truly we thank you for those words we've just heard, that we are people who shall not fear, because you are with us, and Father, we pray that you'll remind us of that as we look into this message tonight, Lord, that truly you are our protection, you are our guide, that you are the one, Lord, that whose word guides us from all fear and all anxiety. And Lord, as believers again, we can forget that, but Lord, we thank you that you are God that never gets tired of reminding us of that. So Father, we pray now that as we look at this preached word, or that we'll hear this preached word, that you will be glorified for it, that you will strengthen us, remind us again of what we have in you, and Lord, that we will walk away loving Christ more, loving you more, depending on the Spirit more, all for your glory. And we ask these blessings in Jesus' name, amen, amen. As was mentioned last week by Pastor Jones, and also this morning in Minister Ferguson's message, this Sunday is known around Christianity as Reformation Sunday. And this day, which actually happened again, 499 years ago tomorrow, it commemorates the time when an Augustinian monk, named Martin Luther, nailed 95 thesis or protests against some of the teachings of Roman Catholicism on the door of the church in Whitonburg, Germany. And these thesis, along with the assistance of a new invention that was coming about at the time, called the printing press, which allowed copies of Luther's protest to get into the hands of the common people, sparked what became known as the Protestant Reformation in Germany, later throughout the continent of Europe, and ultimately around the world. Now, from its infancy, at the core of the Protestant Reformation movement has been one important question, a question in which Martin Luther had previously wrestled with deeply and what ultimately caused him to post the 95 thesis in the first place. And that question is this, how can a sinful man stand as righteous in the presence of a holy God? How can a sinful man stand as righteous in the presence of a holy God? In essence, beloved, at the heart of this movement, the reformers sought to clarify the important issue pertaining to salvation. How are we saved? How do we enter the kingdom of heaven? Is salvation brought through the purchases of indulgences? Does it come by making donations into a treasury a merit? Or as the reformers fought to show, was it given through belief in the person and work of Jesus Christ in him alone? So again, at the issue of the Reformation movement, was this issue in regards to how are we saved? However, in dealing with that issue, the reformers indirectly dealt with and answered another issue as well, one that is just as important as the doctrine of salvation. Namely, the reformers also clarified the understanding of God's role in salvation. In essence, the reformers showed that God was not just sovereign overall men, but he was also sovereign over the entire process of salvation. So this evening, what I want to do is look at this very subject of God's role in salvation and highlight three ways it provides joy. And I want to do it from one verse in a song that could be called the most influential and encouraging passage of the Protestant Reformation. And that is Psalm 461. God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Now, just for the record, the reason why I say that Psalm 46 in general is one of the most influential and encouraging scriptures in regards to the Reformation is because if you were to open up your hymnal in front of you and turn to the hymn, a mighty fortress is our God, which again was written by Martin Luther. You'll find that the scriptural reference for that hymn is six verses beyond our on text tonight. Psalm 46 verse seven, which reads like this, the Lord of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our stronghold or is our fortress. And again, verse 11 also says these exact same words. And equally, this is why it's become almost commonplace for in particular many reformed churches to preach or teach on this Psalm every Reformation Sunday. Because as we're going to see in a moment, this Psalm deals exclusively with how God serves as a shield of protection for his people. So again, tonight, what I want to do is look at verse one of Psalm 46 and discuss three ways it provides joy in knowing God is over our salvation. And by the way, these three points are as follows. First, God is our refuge. That's point one. Point two, God is our strength. He is our strength and point three. God is our very present help. So we're coming right from the text. God is our refuge. God is our strength and God is our very present help. So let's look at these one at a time. God is our refuge. Let's start there. Again, this is what the first part of Psalm 46 verse one tells us. God is our refuge. Now in San this, we need to ask what exactly does David mean by this statement? What does he mean when he says God is our refuge? Well, beloved, in answering this question, I want to propose two answers. Two answers to what I believe David is saying here. The first thing we want to take note of is this. By saying that God is our refuge, David is making clear that man needs to be saved. By saying that God is our refuge, David is making clear that man needs to be saved. And short, beloved, when it comes to our spiritual state, man is not naturally in a place of harmony with God. But rather, when man is born into this world, as Genesis 6 5 tells us, every inclination of his heart is evil all of the time. Here are some other scriptures to back this claim. Genesis chapter 8 and the latter part of verse 21. Genesis chapter 8 and the latter part of verse 21. God says these words that the intent of man's heart is evil from its youth. The intent of man's heart is evil from his youth. Next, Psalm 14 verses 2 and 3. Psalm 14 verses 2 and 3 reads, the Lord has looked down from heaven upon the sons of men to see who understands, to see who seeks after God. They have all turned aside. Together, they have become corrupt. There is no one who does good, no, not even one. Then we have Isaiah 53 and the first part of verse 6. Isaiah 53 and the first part of verse 6 reads as follows. All of us like sheep have gone astray. Each of us have turned to his own way. And finally, we have Romans chapter 3, verse 23. Romans chapter 3, verse 23. Reverse that is known by many of us pretty well. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. So beloved, as we see, our natural status human beings is a fallen state. And this fallen state is something that doesn't come upon us as we get older. But because we inherited it from our forefather, Adam, and we are of his image in his likeness, which is what Genesis 5 tells us, we come into the world this way. Once more, mentioning Romans chapter 3, verse 23, even from life's first cry, beloved, we are sinners who have fallen short of the glory of God. I remember doing the holidays of 2002. My mom and I went to visit family in South Carolina. And I recall hanging out at my cousin had his house and also over there was her younger sister and also my cousin Melissa who we called Missy. And Missy brought over to the house that day, her then 11-month-old infant daughter who also was my cousin. And after some time being there, Missy went into the kitchen and she brought out one of those ice cream cone Sundays to eat. And actually when the babies saw that her mother was eating something, she stopped what she was doing and headed straight over to her. Now, I'll never forget what happened after this happened because when Missy, when the baby got to Missy and she lowered the cone for the baby to take a lick, the baby had other plants. In other words, the baby didn't want to take a lick of the cone. She wanted the entire cone. And when Missy pulled the cone back and told the baby, no, you can't have the whole cone, you can only have a lick of it. You would have thought that child got abused. I mean, she absolutely lost it. And I had never seen a tantrum like that until my son was born. But it was absolutely amazing to see this. And the question that came to my mind then and still does when I think about that incident is this, how does a child who hasn't even reached a year in age develop a disposition of selfishness like the one I saw that day. How is it possible for someone who is so young to show that their personal pleasures and desires are more important than another person in particular, their parents? But beloved, the answer to this question is very simple. Every inclination of my little cousin's heart was evil. In short, even at 11 months old, her actions were showing that she was a sinner in need of salvation. David said these words in Psalm 51, verse 5, Behold, I was brought forth in aiquity and in sin my mother conceived me. In short, David recognized that even from the womb he is a fallen creature with a fallen nature. And the since he is a fallen creature with a fallen nature, he is also aware of his dire need to be rescued for the sin that has hold of him. So, therefore, beloved, here's the bottom line. We may be of different ages, we may be of different races, we may have difference in gender, we may have had different life experiences, we may be different from a social and economic background. However, despite all these differences, there was one thing we all have in common and that is we are all fallen creatures with fallen natures who need to be saved from the sin that has hold of us. Beloved, when it comes to the spiritual, this is the truth that links all of us together. So again, the first thing we see communicated to us and God being our refuge is that we all have a need to be saved. But here's a second point that's communicated to us and God being our refuge. Namely, not only do we need to be saved, but we can't even save ourselves. Not only do we need to be saved, but we can't save ourselves. So here's what we're saying. Not only are we born in bondage to sin, but we have no ability to free ourselves from it. And short, when it comes to breaking our sin, we're helpless, beloved. In fact, the Apostle Paul uses a very strong statement to describe our state and sin. He says that we are all dead in sin. We're without life. We are void of any power to break the grip of sin upon us. And short, left to ourselves, we are in a hopeless, dire situation. But if this isn't bad enough, here's another disturbing reality we have to face. We're ruled by a holy and righteous God. And what makes this disturbing is by his standards, we are required to be holy and righteous before him. Because beloved, if we are not holy and righteous before him, then we face the reality of incurring his anger and wrath on us for all eternity. So here's the situation we're seeing. We have inherited the sinful nature of Adam. This sinful nature makes us dead in sin. And because we are dead in sin, we have no ability to break its grip upon us. And we have no way to deliver ourselves from the horrid reality of facing the wrath of a holy and righteous God for all eternity. So this isn't a pretty picture. So with all this in mind, we once again stare the core question of the Reformation in its face. How does a sinful man stand as righteous before a holy God? What beloved, as we said earlier, and as we see in the question itself, the answer is shown in the first part of verse 1. God, beloved, he provides salvation. He provides the refuge in our time of trouble. Now, how does he provide this refuge? Simply through the person and work of his son, Jesus Christ. Beloved, it is through the person and work of Christ, the one who was totally obedient to God, died on Calvary's cross for our sin, and was raised for our justification, where God makes as a reformer's called it a great exchange. That is, he takes our sin, he takes his wrath off of us, places it on Christ, and at the same time takes the righteousness of Christ and credits it to us. Thus God sees those who have the righteousness of Christ as if they had not sinned at all. Here's how the Apostle Paul puts it, at 2nd Corinthians, 2.5, 2nd Corinthians, chapter 5, rather, verse 21, 2nd Corinthians, chapter 5, verse 21. It reads, he that is God the Father made him that is Christ, who knew no sin, to be sin on our behalf so that we might become the righteousness of God in him. So, therefore, beloved, again, the answer to the question of how can a sinful man stand righteous in the presence of a holy God as this? A sinner stands as righteous in the presence of God when God places their sin and his wrath upon his son, Jesus Christ, and they in turn are credited with the righteousness which Christ has earned by his work, and the sinner receives all of this by faith. So, beloved, what this reveals to us is that unless God does this work through Christ, we are in a helpless and in a hopeless state when it comes to being saved, and ultimately, we will face the judgment of God. Beloved, as one famous hymn puts it, not the labor of my hands can fulfill thy law's demands. Could my zeal no respite know? Could my tears forever flow? All for sin could not atone thou must save, and thou alone. Beloved, there is no other refuge from the trouble of sin, an eternal damnation, other than the refuge provided by God through his son, Jesus Christ. Any other thing we made depend on for eternal security will ultimately fail us because outside of Jesus Christ, there is nothing that is able to bring us the righteousness we need to stand in the presence of a holy God. Again, Jesus was the one who knew no sin, but nevertheless took our sin and became sin for us, that we might be declared righteous by God through him. And because he has done this beloved, he becomes again the only refuge we have when we face the time of trouble. So again, Psalm 46 starts by telling us God is our refuge, and we take hold of this refuge when our faith is placed in the person in work of Jesus Christ. Now, continuing on these thoughts, we come next to the second joy about God in regards to salvation and his verse. Namely, God is our strength. God is our strength. David says God is our refuge and strength. Now, in looking at this verse, one thing instantly becomes obvious. If God is our strength, then this easily implies one thing that as people were feeble, we're weak, we're without power. Now, based on this understanding, we're faced with another question on top of this one. Namely, what is the thing that makes us weak? What is the thing that zaps our power? Well, beloved, there's one thing that does this, one thing, and that again is sin. You see, beloved, here's the reality of the matter. While Jesus did take our sin upon himself and incurred the wrath of God on our behalf, on Calvary's cross, the truth is that we still deal with sin on a practical level every day of our lives. In fact, in saying this, let me pose these series of questions to you. Beloved, have you ever had moments in your life where you just got frustrated or tired of sinning? Do you ever get frustrated or angry that you just can't break that bad habit that you've been struggling with for years? Do you ever get discouraged because you want to serve God in all honesty? You desperately want your devotion to Him to be pure. However, you can't seem to reach that level because of the sin that lies within you. Beloved, I believe all of us in this room have been in that spot sometime more another. If we're not there now, you know, two weeks from this coming Tuesday on November 15th, I'll be actually celebrating 17 years of being a believer in Jesus Christ. And while many things have happened over this time, for example, I've went to seminary and graduated. I've now in full-time ministry and serving brothers and sisters in the faith. And I'm growing every day and understanding the Word of God. There's one thing that has constantly been in my walk from day one. And that is I still battle with sin. In fact, even though it's been almost 17 years, there are still some sins I still battle with that have been upon me since the beginning of my Christian journey. And to say that I'm not frustrated, beloved, to say that I'm not I'm not agitated at times with dealing with them as an understatement because oftentimes I'm looking up to heaven and saying, Lord, again, when am I going to get past this? And beloved, like I said a moment ago, I know many of you in here are just like me when it comes to that. And after a while, I'm just dealing with the same things over and over again. You just get tired. You get tired of fighting. You get tired of feeling guilty. You get tired of the emotional pains. And all of this stuff eventually makes you want to cry out like Paul said in Romans chapter 7, verse 24, Rexian, man or woman that I am, who will free me from this body of death? However, beloved, in feeling this way, let me offer some encouragement to all of us who are going or will go through times like these. And that is in the midst of dealing with the emotion of Paul's words and Romans chapter 7, verse 24, don't let us forget rather the words in the very next verse, verse 25, because it's here where we discovered the solution to our weary state. You know what those words are? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Because, beloved, when we ponder on these words, here is what we see that it's only in the Lord Jesus where God gives us the strength we need to battle the sin that we're facing because in the Lord Jesus Christ, we find the one who has overcome sin for us and given us victory over it. Hear these words from Jesus in Matthew 11, verse 28. Matthew chapter 11, verse 28, he says, come to me all who are weary and heavy laden weary and heavy laden of what? Weary because of the sin in your life. Heavy laden because you're constantly feeling that weight that sin has placed upon you. He says, come to me all who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest. Rest from what? Rest for your souls. I will remind you that although in this world you have tribulations, you can have joy because I have overcome the world and its tribulations for you. Beloved, our hope over the weariness of sin is found in the coming and receiving of the strength of Christ. Once again, I'm reminded of the words of a famous hymn which goes like this. Have we trials and temptations? Is there trouble anywhere? We should never be discouraged. Take it to the Lord in prayer. Can we find a friend so faithful? Who for all our sorrows share? Jesus knows our every weakness. Take it to the Lord in prayer. Beloved, are you dealing with the trouble of sin at this moment in your life? Does your sin have you feeling weak? Have you feeling feeble? Has you thinking that there's absolutely no hope? Well, know that if you are in Christ, you are not void of power. Understand that in your present state of weakness, he is calling you to come to him and to be reminded of the rest which he has provided for you. Beloved, the Jesus who has defeated sin for us is the same Jesus who takes pleasure in reminding us that he has defeated sin for us. So again, let us never be discouraged, but rather let us come to the Lord and in turn let us hear him speak these words of comfort back to us. Namely, I will give you rest. Oh Beloved, it's only in the Lord Jesus Christ where we find the strength we need to keep walking this Christian journey. A journey which at times can be filled with many pitfalls, many pits, many potholes, but nevertheless one that will bring us to our point at destination which is in the presence of God in the heavenly places. And speaking of getting to the heavenly places, we now come to the final of our three joys about God in regards to salvation. Namely, I want to speak on God as our very present help. God as our very present help. Our text reads again, God is our refuge in strength, a very present help in trouble. Now, when we look at this statement that God is a very present help, what can we take from this? What can we take from that statement? Well, Beloved, here's one takeaway that really stands out in this statement. Namely, this, that God is reliable. God is reliable. In short, he doesn't leave us, he doesn't forsake us, and he is with us always even until the end of the age. And Beloved, I can't tell you how important knowing this is when we are walking this Christian journey, and we have to deal with the onslaught of sin while we're doing it. Because sometimes our battle with sin can make us think the journey to glory is a hard one to get to, and even worse, depending on what we're going through, it may make us believe it's impossible to get to. You see, every day we face various trials and tribulations that make us wonder when exactly will our eternal glory come, or if I can put it in this vernacular, there are so many times, Beloved, on this journey, where our weeping has gone on so long throughout the night, that we really start the question if there actually will be joy coming in the morning. As often as, and I say this often to my Tuesday morning Bible study class, this Christian journey is not a sprint beloved, it's a marathon. And again, when you have to deal with constant pitfalls and potholes on the road of this marathon, you tend to wonder if you will ever get to the end of that race, and receive that crown of glory that you are promised there. So with all this in mind, the question becomes, where do we find the assurance that this journey we're on will bring us to the place we're promised, namely the kingdom of God. Well, Beloved, it's found in the truth again that God is reliable. And sure, our assurance is found in the fact that he says that what God says we will get, he will give it to us, and that he is walking with us every step of that way. And for the record, this is why David says he is a very present help in trouble. In other words, he never leaves our side. You know, a great example of what I'm talking about is found in Mark chapter 4, verses 35 to mark 5, I'm chapter 5, verse 1, and I won't have you turned there, but I'll reference it. Again, it's Mark chapter 4, verse 35 to chapter 5, verse 1. And it's here where we see Jesus and his disciples on the sea of Galilee. And he tells us the disciples this, let us go to the other side. So he gets in a boat with them and heads off to the land of the garrisons, which is on the other side. Now, as you recall, if you're familiar with this story, on the way to the land of the garrisons, Jesus and his disciples, they face hurricane-like conditions on the sea. Conditions that make the boat fill up swiftly with water. However, while all of the disciples are trying to get rid of the water that's flooding on the boat, where is Jesus? Well, he's in the stern asleep, seemingly having no care in the world. So when the disciples finally come to him and ask teachers, don't you care that we're dying? You don't care that we're dying? And reply, Jesus calmly gets up, throws up his hands, says, peace be still, and what happens? The storm stops. Now, we would like the story to end there, but something else happened right after he did that. And he did this. He then turned around after rebuking the storm. He then turned to his disciples and what did he do? He rebuked them for not having enough faith. Now, beloved, the question I want to pose to you is this, why would Jesus rebuke his disciples when they seemingly woke him up for a valid reason? I mean, didn't Jesus know the strength of that storm? Didn't Jesus know that the water was filling up that boat and his disciples were frantically dumping it in an effort to save everybody's life on board? Well, beloved, the answer to this question is yes, he knew that. He was the, he's the son of God. He's quite aware that the disciples were going to face a storm on their way to the land of the gira-seans. Eagle, he was also aware that the boat would fill up with water as well as the struggle that would ensue to keep the boat afloat. He knew all these things. However, even in knowing all these things, beloved, Jesus was correct in rebuking his disciples and he was correct for one reason. Because before anyone got on that boat, Jesus gave his disciples one important thing, something that was more powerful than the storm they would face. And you know what that was? He gave him, gave them his word. He gave them his word. In other words, because he is God, when Jesus told his disciples, let us go to the other side. That was their guarantee they would make it to the other side, despite the storm they would endure in getting there. And beloved, the lesson we can take from this account is this, no matter what obstacles we face on this journey, no matter what the trial that seems to be overwhelming in our life. No matter what the struggle that will at times cause us to fear or even shed tears, we always have one thing that should keep us faithful and never doubt in these times. You know what that is? We have the word of God. And thus we know that because we have the word of God, he will bring us into his kingdom and he will complete the work which he has promised us he will do. You know, like in the prior two points, I am reminded again of the words of a hymn and speaking on this point. A hymn that has really become one of my favorites since I became a believer in the reformed faith and it goes like this. I know not what a good or ill may be reserved for me or weary ways or golden days before his face. I see but I know whom I have believed in and I am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day. Beloved the God of heaven and earth is a reliable God. He is totally trustworthy. So whatever you are facing now or will face later, know you're never alone. He is there with you. He has given you the word to take care and protect you. As Pastor Jones often says on this Christian journey, the Lord doesn't promise a safety. That is he doesn't promise that there won't be any hurts. There won't be any pains. There won't be any frustrating moments. However, what the Lord does promise is security. He promised that as we deal with these hurts, these pains and moments of frustration that he will never leave our side and will guide us through every one of them in Christ. Beloved, as we conclude our time together today, let us take joy in these truths that we're seeing about our God as we celebrate the rest of this Reformation Sunday because what was at the heart of the protests of the Reformers stands everything that we just discussed in this message, namely that our God has provided a refuge for sin in his Son, Jesus Christ, that in Christ we have the power to overcome our weariness against the sin that befalls us and that we can hold to these promises as well as many others that God has made towards us because he is a God who can be trusted. So Beloved, as we continue our journey on the road to glory, if we remember these three important things about our God and in regards to the salvation he gives, Beloved, while it won't prevent us, from dealing with various potholes and pitfalls along our way. Here's what it will do. It will give us a better knowledge, it will give us a better embracing of the God who is to provider of every one of these blessings as we continue to walk this journey. Let's go to the Lord in prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you Lord for your word and we thank you for you being our refuge. We thank you for you being our strength. Lord, you are everything to us. Lord, we say that at times but you truly are everything to us. Father, help us to know that only the only thing we can do is through you. As Jesus said, without him, we can do nothing. So Father, remind us of that as we walk this Christian journey. Remind us that truly, we are totally dependent upon you and give us the encouragement again, Lord, to know that even though we are walking this Christian journey, again, you are a God that is with us and one that is will say or will do what your word says and that is that you will lead us into the kingdom of heaven. And Lord, all what a great day that will be. So Lord, while we're still on this road to glory, while we fit it as we deal with it's pitfalls and potholes, Lord, help us to realize again, Lord, that we will get there. Not because we're so good, not because we're going to just struggle again and there, but because you said we would. And Father, we look forward to that day. So Lord, be with us now as we leave out of here in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. We please stand for the benediction.